The judgment of the Constitutional Court, which prohibits the candidacy for deputy to persons convicted of a criminal offense with a final court decision in the last three years, is being seen as political and inefficient to decriminalize the political scene in Kosovo.
Among those convicted in the last three years are the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, as well as deputies Albulena Haxhiu, Faton Topalli and Donika Kadaj-Bujupi. They were sentenced to probation on January 3, 2018, for throwing tear gas in the premises of the Assembly of Kosovo.
According to Ehat Miftaraj from the Kosovo Institute of Justice (IKD), this decision of the Constitutional Court affects only a small part, but not all the officials and politicians who are accused of criminal acts of corruption.
As such, Miftaraj says for Radio Free Europe, this decision cannot remove from the political scene the persons who are convicted and have indictments.
"We can say that this decision of the Constitutional Court affects a very limited, very small number of persons (of politics). This decision of the Constitutional Court, it is not that it will make any big difference, it is not that it will decriminalize the political scene in Kosovo", says Miftaraj.
He emphasizes that political parties must adopt documents, through which they clear the political scene, in any case when a person is accused or has problems with the law.
According to him, in this way, not only the Assembly, but also other executive institutions would be cleansed of elements that have problems with the law.
Politically motivated decision
The director of the Group for Political and Legal Studies, Arbresha Loxha, says for Radio Free Europe that the vetting or decriminalization of politics cannot be done with arbitrary parameters.
According to her, the last judgment of the Constitutional Court is political.
"We consider that only clear objective determinations can contribute to the purity of the Assembly and not temporary determinations with clear political motives, such as the case of the last judgment of the Constitutional Court", she says.
Loxha says that a distinction should be made between criminal offenses, and, according to her, the Constitutional Court has not done such a thing.
"We consider that limiting the right to run should not and cannot be done so 'blankly', regardless of whether the person who will run is convicted of a serious crime or a criminal offense resulting from negligence or opposition action political", says Loxha.
The Constitutional Court in a different role
Ehat Miftaraj from IKD says that the Constitutional Court with this decision has made an effort to improve the mistakes of regular courts.
According to him, the courts do not have the courage to judge and punish political officials, to limit their right to run for office with court decisions.
If this does not happen, Miftaraj says that this practice will continue in the future.
"Based on the law applicable in Kosovo, based on Article 45 of the Constitution, the courts of Kosovo in any case when they judge and punish politicians, public officials, have the possibility to limit their right to exercise through supplementary punishment public functions for a certain period of time", says Miftaraj.
The full 65-page judgment of the Constitutional Court, regarding the unconstitutional election of the Government of Kosovo, led by Avdullah Hoti, was published on January 6 of this year.
The Vetëvendosje movement had sent to the Constitutional Court the issue related to the constitutionality of the vote of the Hoti Government, because Etem Arifi had voted for this government on June 3, sentenced by a final decision of more than one year in prison for the criminal offense. fraud with subsidies".
His vote was decisive for the formation of the Government headed by Avdullah Hoti of the Democratic League of Kosovo.
After the decision of the Constitutional Court, the acting president, Vjosa Osmani, has announced the new parliamentary elections, which will be held on February 14.
This article is published with the permission of REL
